cheney. even after mandela was freed from prison and elected president of south africa in 1994, u.s. leaders from frequently suspicious of him. during the clinton administration mandela praised cuba's communist dictator fidel castro and referred to libyan dictator muammar qaddafi as a friend. president bush said the iraq war was about liberation. mandela said all bush wanted was iraqi oil. now the flags in washington have been lowered to half-staff. the icon, whose legacy was at times considered a subversive threat. >> u.s. administration always seemed tread very carefully with mandela. and many officials who served as president throughout the years are even more delicate saying this is not the time to r relitigate those old conflicts. >> for more on the mood in south africa let's go to my colleague, mike hannah. he is in soweto, and it's great to sue you. how would you describe the mood on that street in that neighborhood this evening? >> well, it's a very strange mixture, tony. it's a deep